“The standard is simple. When proceeding with work, if there’s a justification that serves the empire’s people, I tell him. If it’s for my benefit or the process is cruel, I don’t tell him.”
Only then did Aren nod in understanding. Then he tilted his head again as if he still didn’t understand.
“Is there really a need to be so considerate of Daniel’s feelings?”
William answered without hesitating even a second.
“Because I don’t want to be hated.”
“Haha… Yes. Hated… Ah… I, I see. Yes. That could be the case.”
Aren reluctantly answered with a forced laugh. Even though this was his nephew, at times like this he couldn’t understand what was going on inside his head. He seemed to have the qualities of a wise ruler, but sometimes he became frighteningly cold, making it confusing to tell which was his true nature. Above all, he couldn’t understand why William was so obsessively attached to Daniel beyond what was necessary.
‘Is it because he was the only peer he could trust during times when he had nowhere to place his heart? Or is it something like first love?’
Even so, the degree was excessive. He was worried that this current obsession would have a bad influence on his nephew’s future, but knowing that it wouldn’t stop even if he tried to dissuade him, Aren couldn’t say anything.
After thinking for a while, William opened his mouth as if he had reached a conclusion.
“Since Danny said to show mercy, let’s handle it the way we’ve always handled things.”
How could he say such terrible words without any change in expression? Aren was astounded by how completely different William was when Daniel was present versus absent.
‘If we handle it the way we always have, that means burning him to death.’
“I’ll send someone soon.”
“You know that I only have you as family, don’t you, Uncle?”
William’s face still had the soft down that hadn’t fully disappeared yet as he said this.
‘The pure malice of a child is more frightening than the schemes of adults who calculate everything. Let’s not think too deeply about it.’
Aren erased his thoughts and answered while hiding his true feelings.
“Yes. The only blood relative I have left is Your Highness.”
***
One month later, the lopeia trade was a great success.
It was in such high demand both domestically and internationally that they couldn’t sell enough, and the food purchased with those profits was abundant, making the empire’s winter prosperous. The empire’s people, who had struggled with poverty every year, could now buy the lower-priced food without burden and eat their fill.
The Emperor was extremely pleased and commanded that everyone in the empire should know that it was Crown Prince William who had led this trade. The rumors spread quickly, leading to the desirable result that all citizens of the Stamili Empire, regardless of age or gender, praised Crown Prince William.
Looking at our always-impressive William, I offered my congratulations.
“Your Highness, I heard His Majesty the Emperor was greatly pleased? You’ve worked so hard. You’re truly amazing.”
William replied with a slight smirk.
“Danny, you said so yourself. A good emperor must accurately distinguish between achievements and faults.”
“Yes, I did say that. Even so, you did accomplish it splendidly.”
William shook his head seriously.
“The idea was Danny’s, the high-quality lopeia was produced by Putdy and Gapa, persuading the nobles was Uncle’s work, and the diplomatic assistance came from Count Paroni. If we hadn’t been invited to Countess Paroni’s tea party, we couldn’t have opened the trade routes so easily, so that was also thanks to Danny’s power.”
My goodness, how magnificent!
I couldn’t close my mouth at William’s dignity.
Having only seen people in my previous life who claimed good results as their own achievement and blamed others for bad results, seeing William say exactly the opposite made me feel as if all the grime in my heart was being completely washed away.
This is what they call the reward of raising someone! Our William has grown up well. Really! Now if he just becomes Emperor, he won’t even need my help.
I said while suppressing my tears.
“Your Highness was at the center of all those affairs. It’s the result of Your Highness’s wisdom in listening to even the words of a humble concubine.”
“Is that so?”
William slightly lowered his head and smiled.
What’s this? Is he embarrassed?
Finding such a William cute, I took a step closer to him.
“I’m so proud of Your High…”
I was planning to hold his hand tightly and praise him for being proud, but before I could even extend my hand, William raised his head first. His face, with embarrassment completely gone, looked at me and grinned.
“If you’re that proud, you should give me praise.”
So the reason he lowered his head and smiled earlier wasn’t from embarrassment, but because he was thinking about how to take advantage of this opportunity. I’ve been fooled again, fooled.
Looking at William’s atmosphere, it was obvious what he would demand, but I deliberately pretended not to know and played dumb.
“I’ve been giving you praise constantly since earlier, but what kind of praise do you want more? There are still many stories left…”
William slightly parted his bright red lips. I tried not to look at his lips, but since he was tracing his lips with his finger, my gaze naturally went there.
“Danny, you know. What I want. Should I go first? Or do you want to go first?”
“…What?”
William frowned. If I pretended not to know any more here, he would definitely get angry, so I had no choice but to cup William’s cheeks with both hands.
“I’ll go first.”
At this unintended situation, I looked at William and gulped. Regardless of my feelings, my heart began beating wildly on its own. My chest felt queasy and my head felt dizzy, as if I might get vertigo.
“Y-Your Highness… Could you reduce your pheromones a bit…”
“What are you talking about? I’m suppressing them…”
Come to think of it, the reaction happening in my body seemed a bit different from when William released pheromones.
What? I’m showing this reaction now, and it’s not because of pheromones?
Come to think of it, when William usually released pheromones, it seemed like I couldn’t smell any scent.
“What are you doing? I’m probably the only Alpha in the world who has this much trouble kissing his own Omega.”
“It would be better if Your Highness did it.”
“Why?”
“Well… that’s because…”
“Because your heart is beating too fast?”
It was embarrassing, but I had already said with my own mouth that it seemed like William was sending pheromones. That meant I was the only one reacting. Since I couldn’t take it back, it would be better to just admit it.
“Yes. I’m trembling.”
As if it was an answer he liked, William looked straight into my eyes and grinned. His face smiling like that was beautiful, and I was afraid I might fall for that beauty and make a choice I shouldn’t make.
What I could see with my eyes, what I thought in my head, and the reactions I felt with my body were all different, so I was confused about what I should believe.
In the midst of this, William slowly lowered his head. His silver hair tickled my cheek, but I was too tense to laugh.
3 seconds before our lips touched, 2 seconds, 1 second… Finally, as William’s lips touched mine, I squeezed my eyes shut. William’s hand cupped my cheek, and I felt his large, firm palm on the back of my head as well.
Embarrassed and flustered, I unconsciously stepped back, and William’s body leaned toward me.
And at the same time, something inside me made a sharp sound, and my mind suddenly became clear.
This is wrong! William is still a minor!
Fortunately, we were only pressing our lips together without mixing breaths or rubbing lips, but I could feel William’s heart beating rapidly against my chest, which made me anxious.
However, if I pushed him away like this, William might think he was being rejected and become angry enough to rampage, so I had to be careful. I patted his back a couple of times and then gently separated my lips. Then I spoke as sincerely as possible.
“I am truly proud of my one and only Crown Prince Your Highness.”
At my words, I met eyes with William as he opened his. I smiled more gently than ever, but William pouted as if something didn’t satisfy him.
“How can it be so short and childish.”
“Your Highness, doesn’t everything have stages?”
“What stages? Heat?”
At the unexpected words, I was so startled I almost fell backward, but William was supporting my back so I avoided falling.
“Not those kinds of stages…”
I trailed off and thought hard about how to make William understand.
Even if I told him that I was actually someone who had possessed this body and that in my world he was a minor so we shouldn’t do such things, he wouldn’t understand. And saying that physical intimacy should only happen after confirming each other’s feelings and obtaining the other person’s consent wouldn’t align with William’s ideology, who grew up in the Imperial Palace learning that continuing the bloodline was a virtue.
Ah, what should I really do?
Throughout all my time teaching William, this was the first time I had encountered such a difficult situation.
I need to think quickly.
As I desperately wracked my brain wondering if there wasn’t some way out of this predicament, a good idea occurred to me.
To realize my plan, I first asked William back.
“Were you waiting for my heat cycle, Your Highness?”
William answered with a face flushed red.
“Yes.”
“Why? There’s no problem with physical intimacy even without a heat cycle, is there?”
For me, asking such a question was extremely dangerous because there was a risk that William might say, ‘Right. I wasn’t planning to wait anymore anyway.’
However, I was confident he wouldn’t say that. Because if William had thought through something and proceeded with it himself, given his personality, there would have been a good reason for it.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
